I have always been passionate about religion and faith. My childhood is riddled with stories of asking pertinent religious questions, even at age five. Faith has been something that has always been present in my life, it is a deeply personal journey that has no end. Deciding to step away from the faith I had been raised in was a path that I had never foreseen myself taking, and had unimaginable consequences.
Catholicism was the faith the was bestowed on my from my parents. Within it I began my spiritual journey, from baptism to first communion. It was with great interest that I challenged it, and after lacking the answers chose not to confirm. I wandered through the deep realms of faith, lacking any spiritual connection. As a teen, I made my connection to my future faith through the way of my first Jewish acquaintance.
I joined on-line religious debate groups, still grasping at the old by-lines of faith I had been raised in. Slowly, I began to see things in Christianity that I just could not profess to believe in. It took a lot of time to come to grips with that reality, and to openly declare that I didn’t believe it.
Converting to Judaism seemed like the only logical step. I embraced the joy of loving and feeling confidant in my faith. It is unfortunate that not everyone feels the same way. You have to understand that converting to any faith can come at a very high price.
It is not my goal or my wish to convert anyone along with me. I am happy in my faith and I support anyone who feels the same about their different faith. Many people, when they learn that you no longer believe as they do, feel attacked. Then, they attack you. Verbal assaults such as ‘You’re going to hell’, or ‘You’re an idiot’ are very common.
Broaching the topic with family, whom you love, is also difficult as it can be scary to feel ostracized from them. These are just a few of the realities that the decision to convert has brought forward to me. Luckily, while the bad things are there, following my heart and my soul in this matter have led to a fulfillment I could have never imagined. My faith has reached a depth of joy that I wish on the rest of humanity.